地方資産家の投資行動と企業勃興

-大阪府泉南郡貝塚町廣海家の事例-

抄録

The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the relationship between local wealth holders and Japan's industrialization, with particular focus on the enterprising booms in provincial areas during the Meiji Era. It examines the case of the Hiroumi family, the largest manure merchant in the town of Kaizuka in Sennan, Osaka. The following are the significant findings made :
(1) The investment behavior of the Hiroumi family changed around the time of the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95). Before the war, Hiroumi depended mainly on income from its manure business. However, the family began to invest in stocks, especially those of local enterprises, after the war, and stock investment eventually became the family's most important source of income in 1897. Since then, the Hiroumi continued to invest in local enterprises and contributed to the industrialization of Sennan area.
(2) The Hiroumis' investment behavior had two characteristics : First, in selecting the firms to invest in, the family carefully researched their potentials as well as the reputations of their founders. Second, the family continued to monitor the firms it had invested in and decided to reinvest in them only after screening their performances. Furthermore, the family became actively involved in the corporate restructuring of firms if necessary. In this fashion, by channeling the region's limited financial resources only to firms with potential, the Hiroumi family contributed to the continuing growth of local enterprises in the area.
(3) In the industrialization of the region, the Hiroumis played a role similar to that of an investment banker, and many other local wealth holders like the Hiroumis similarly supported the continuing rise of local enterprises in Sennan area. The existence of those local wealth holders was one of the factors that sustained the “provincial vitality” of the Sennan area throughout the prewar period.